


Sweeter Things

by likesittinspoons



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 08:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9431255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likesittinspoons/pseuds/likesittinspoons
Summary: Sometimes a challenge is all it takes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Week 3 of Promptwatch and I'm only a day late this time! A huge thank you Ryan for betaing (aka my resident McGenji trash friend) and to Pidge for the idea for this. This is my first longer oneshot and it was a lot of fun to write so I hope you enjoy.

Being a new recruit was always hard. There was the matter of meeting new people, learning the way of life around a new base and figuring out where you stand on the pecking order. These were easy things for Genji Shimada, he always had been an outgoing person back in Hanamura. Everyone he met seemed to like him, the only negative interaction being when he accidentally walked into Ana Amari and consequently caused a good amount of her tea to slosh out of her cup. Ever the quick thinker, this had been quickly resolved by grabbing a fresh cup for her before proceeding to introduce himself properly. Life around the base wasn’t too different from back home at the Shimada Castle either. People were watching him to make sure that he was staying in line and he had a schedule to follow including when he should be eating and when he should be training. It didn’t take long to admit to himself that he enjoyed it more in Gibraltar due to the added freedom that came with it, no longer being seen as the secondary heir to the Shimada Clan and instead being treated like every other agent there.

 

The pecking order however was a difficult one. In terms of his rank he was pretty high, definitely not an inexperienced agent like some of his co-workers, yet far from the top in terms of respect. He’d been told upon arrival at the watchpoint that his initial mission was within the organisation’s Blackwatch section, the ‘darker side of Overwatch’ as Commander Morrison had politely put it. Once this mission was over he’d be joining Overwatch’s main strike team on the front lines - one of the faces of the organisation. Until then however, Genji was working on the missions less suited to Overwatch’s public image, and subsequently working with Blackwatch’s leader Commander Reyes.

 

Genji had been reassured that the training for both branches was the same, Blackwatch’s including a bit more in terms of stealth due to the secrecy of the division (not like that would be a problem for him given the enhancements that his cyborg body gave him, though admittedly he was still getting used to it) and he’d been told that he’d be working with Commander Reyes himself along with another higher-up in terms of agent status within the branch. He’d later learn that this mystery person was essentially Reyes’s right-hand man which lead him to his current position, being poked in the arm relentlessly by a man not much older than himself, who for some reason unknown to Genji, thought that cowboy hats were still an acceptable fashion choice.

 

“You said you had prior training experience? I know the basics but would you care to elaborate for me? Jesse stop poking him in the arm. Just some details so I know what your specialities are and where your potential weaknesses are so we can improve on them. Jesse for the love of god leave his arm alone.”

 

A small laugh worked its way out of Genji’s throat as he turned to see the sheepish look on the face of the man not much older than him, apparently called Jesse. A mumbled sorry and he was sulking off to the other side of the room, likely setting up some form of base training test for Genji.

 

“I’m trained in practice with shurikens and an ōdachi. I was already rather agile but Doctor Ziegler informed me that the cybernetic enhancements will improve upon that.”

 

“Ah good, so you’re likely to ace the stealth and agility tests. I’m not sure how we can test your ōdachi skills here but we can likely move to the practice range with some training bots for that after your initial test. As for the shurikens we can get a standard practice range set up for you as they’re a long range weapon, see what your aim is like now that Angela’s done with the enhancements.”

 

With a firm nod of his head Reyes strode across the facility, stopping around 10 metres in front of the shooting range dummies that McCree had been setting up. The former had looked up at the familiar sound of the commander’s boots approaching and had leapt into action following a snap of Reyes’s fingers. Now stood together a reasonable distance from the first dummy Genji could only watch as the scene unfolded.

 

“McCree here has one of the best aims that Blackwatch has to offer, given your former training you should ideally be able to hit targets within the same range of accuracy as he does. You’ll start closer to the dummy, moving back a line each time you move along.”

 

Genji’s eyes drifted to the floor as he took note of the markings that he’d overlooked before. Various shapes appeared to be colour coded all around the room, each colour representing the markings for a different activity he assumed. The ones in question were the bright yellow lines that appeared to be 5 metres further back each time as they spanned the length of the room, clearly indicating that the further towards the right of the room you were the better your aim was.

 

“He’s going to show you how this is done, he’s one of the only agents currently on our team who can hit the dummies with pin-point accuracy all the way along. I want you to follow him as he goes, striking each dummy after he does. At the end we’ll see how accurate you both were and how close your blows were to each other’s.”

 

A booming clap echoed through the room as Reyes gave the signal to begin, McCree instantly readying his stance in front of the dummy. 

 

_ Bang _

 

A pause.

 

_ Bang _

 

Another pause.

 

_ Bang _

 

A third pause. The footsteps stop and a fourth doesn’t follow.

 

“Are you gonna do something or are ya just gonna stand there…?”

 

Genji snapped out of his trance and glanced to where McCree was stood readying himself at the fourth dummy, clearly waiting for Genji to make a move before he continued. They’d all been perfect blows that would have landed right between the eyes had the dummies been actual enemies. He’d expected a good aim but he hadn’t expected  _ that _ .

 

Steeling himself and stepping up to the line, Genji took aim and struck the first dummy before moving on to the second one. By the time he’d reached the third one McCree had started to move along again too, now confident that Genji would be following after him. There were 8 dummies in total and when Genji reached the final one he wasn’t even surprised to see that McCree had once again got a perfect blow on it. 

 

“Not bad, Shimada. Not perfect, but not bad.”

 

A back-handed compliment but he’d take what he could get right now, knowing from just the few short minutes that he’d spent with Jesse that the man didn’t give out praise for training that easily. The familiar sound of Commander Reyes’s footsteps made the two of them look back to the other end of the line of dummies. As Reyes walked along he was carefully inspecting each of the dummies, nodding as he compared Genji and Jesse’s blows while mentally calculating how much damage they would have done.

 

“He’s right agent, you did hit them all after all, something that surprisingly some of our recruits are still trying to master. As expected your critical hits grew weaker as you went on, but that’s not to say that the blows were bad. They were accurate enough that they’d cause major injury and immobilise them, but not enough to end them. I’m sure that pairing that with your ōdachi skills will render you one of our deadliest up front agents, especially when you bring the enhanced stealth into consideration. There is however still room for improvement, and you are only just above the Blackwatch average as of now, so don’t let the praise make you get cocky. If you get cocky you will screw up and you will get injured, and  _ I _ don’t want any of my team out of commission, especially the promising recruits, and  _ especially _ the promising recruits who get shipped off for the occasional Overwatch mission, do I make myself clear?”

 

A firm nod was the only confirmation that Reyes appeared to need before he was instructing McCree to dismantle the training gear and sending Genji off to record his training records on the system located in the locker rooms. The system itself was easy enough to understand, for each division of the organisation it showed the average for each training test as well as each agent’s personal scores. The entire system was open to every agent, adding in an air of competition to see who could top the leaderboard and be the ‘best agent’. Looking at the scores Genji saw that McCree was in fact one of, if not the best that Blackwatch had to offer other than Reyes himself. His own scores weren’t bad, but he had a long way to go still.

  
“Don’t beat yourself up too much about it, if it means anything you’re the best new recruit I’ve ever seen.”

 

The voice startled him, having been too engrossed in his own results to hear the footsteps as McCree joined him in the locker room. The cowboy was stood behind him, casually leaning against the wall as he smiled at the man stood across from him.

 

“Seriously. You can check the first time records later if you don’t believe me. I mean, regardless of that you do still have work to do, Reyes was right about that one. My only concern is that while your scores are above average for a newbie, they’re only average for a Blackwatch agent. You’re on a mission this coming Friday with myself and a few of the other guys who have their names high up on this list, it’s going to be a tough one and your eventual final Blackwatch mission in Hanamura is going to be even tougher. Are you sure you’re ready for it?”

 

The smile warped into a look of concern as he spoke, whether it was for Genji or for himself was questionable. Genji was silent for a moment before he responded.

 

“Are you saying that I’m not good enough to go on this mission with you, agent McCree?”

 

“Not saying you’re not good enough, I’m saying that you’re the only one on the mission roster who isn’t ranked within the top 10 in the division, the top 25 even. It’s not going to be a walk in the park and I like to be confident that whoever’s watching my back will be able to guard it too.”

 

“So you’re saying my results weren’t good enough for your standards.”

 

“If you wanna put it that way sure, but think of it more as me looking out for the team, including yourself. I don’t want you to be on a mission that could basically be suicide, you’re gonna have to have top ten level results in at least your accuracy for it. Look, I don’t mean to offend ya, but there are still four days before the mission and I’d appreciate it if as a fellow teammate you spend some of that time upping those results. Neither of us need to return back to the base in a bodybag.”

 

With that the man took his leave leaving Genji stood alone in the locker room, unsure of whether he should feel insulted or grateful for the concern shown. One emotion did stand out to him though and that was determination. He was going to get those scores up and he was going to ace the mission. He’d show McCree what he could  _ really _ do.

 

\----------

 

As the week went on and the mission grew ever closer Genji found himself spending more and more time analysing his scores and what he could do to improve them. He’d taken to practicing in his own time with whatever he could get his hands on as a target, the log system of the training AI was automatic and he wanted to prove to not only McCree but to the entire team that he  _ was _ ready for the mission, but not without proving their assumptions of him wrong first. While slightly inaccurate, Genji’s own measuring system for results brought him into the top 15 of the Blackwatch recruits by Thursday night, ready to leave for the mission bright and early the following morning. Not quite top ten but he’d take it.

 

The morning came around and a small group of four people were waiting for him in the hangar, him making the team a full group of five. There were two people that Genji didn’t recognise who appeared to be a few years older than McCree, along with the former himself and Commander Reyes. The fact that the commander was present for such a small mission only confirmed what McCree had said to him earlier in the week about how this mission would be a tough one, but Genji refused to let himself worry about it now, especially given all of the work he’d put in during the week to prove himself.

 

“Morning Shimada, I see we’re all here now so let’s get on the transport and get this mission over with. We need to do this undetected and as quickly as possible, and we should hopefully be back before the end of the day since the mission is only an hour away. That being said, we can’t rush this and compromise our position or let them know that we’re there, so if it takes four days then it’s gonna take four days. Let’s get going.”

 

The five of them shuffled aboard the transport and got themselves settled for the journey, McCree taking a seat next to Genji once everyone else was on.

 

“So, you ready for this then? First Blackwatch mission and all that.”

 

“As I’ll ever be, McCree.”

 

“Ooooo, someone’s confident.”

 

Genji only hummed in response, taking out his phone and opening a game on it. McCree was left floundering next to him, unsure how to take the response he was given. After a few seconds of mouth opening and furrowed brows he shuffled along to his left a bit putting more space between the two before he too pulled out his phone and began to play with it, a confused look sitting on his face the entire time.

 

The look on his face on the transport back to the base later that day however, was not confusion. No, this was a look of astonishment. Genji sat smug and unscathed across from McCree who was getting a wound to his arm bandaged up.

 

“How did you do that...?”

 

“Do what?”

 

“That  _ thing _ with the dragon and the sword-”

 

“The ōdachi.”

 

McCree took a sharp breath as the pain from the antiseptic cleaning the wound hit him, turning to throw a quick glare at Reyes who simply raised an eyebrow in response.

 

“Don’t look at me, kid. You’d be dead if it wasn’t for him and it’s your own stupid fault that you’re sat here with me fixing your arm.”

 

McCree’s glare dropped off his face immediately, his eyes dropping to the floor of the transport with a look of guilt. 

 

“The ōdachi.” he continued, “The dragon thing with the ōdachi, I ain’t ever seen anything like that before. You saved my ass back there, you saved  _ all _ of our asses back there.”

 

“The dragons have been a part of my family for many generations. When we call for their help in battle they’ll come to our aid. Many members of my family including myself have one dragon, the rare few however have two, much like my brother does.”

 

“Same brother who landed you in our medical bay?”

 

“The very same.”

 

An impressed whistle worked its way out of McCree’s throat as Genji’s dragon appeared on his shoulder again from seemingly nowhere, looking nothing like the furious beast that he’d seen not even two hours ago.

 

“That lil fella seems a lot friendlier now than he did the last time I saw him.”

 

Genji let out a small chuckle at the comment, reaching a hand up to give the dragon a small pet.

 

“He only harms my enemies, those who are on my team need not fear him.”

 

“He got a name?”

 

“Udon.”

 

“Because he’s like a little noodle?”

 

“Exactly that.”

 

McCree let out a small noise of acknowledgement, the conversation effectively ending when Reyes began to gently talk him through caring for the wound, making McCree promise to go and see Angela when they arrived back at the base.

 

Another fifteen minutes passed and before Genji knew it the transport was starting to descend into the dock in the hangar they’d departed from earlier in the day. A glance around told him that he wasn’t the only one feeling worn out after the mission, Reyes especially looked like he could use around ten hours sleep, likely due to how he had to half drag half carry McCree to safety earlier after the blow to his arm had stopped him from being able to stand up without a painful struggle that they didn’t have time for.

 

“Shimada.”

 

Genji turned around as he heard Commander Reyes call his name, looking over to where both him and McCree were leaving the transport.

 

“Make sure that this one gets to the med bay to see Angela, will you? I need to get the intel we gathered to Morrison ASAP and I don’t trust him to go on his own after he once spent two days with a sprained ankle before anyone noticed since he refused to tell anyone.”

 

A mumble that was too low to hear came from McCree at the mention of that last incident, Reyes shooting him a stern glare however made Genji realise that it probably wasn’t the nicest comment. McCree rolled his eyes and made his way over to where Genji was stood just off the transport, waving his uninjured arm dramatically to make a point.

 

“Look, I’m going. Genji will make sure I get there.”

 

Reyes simply let out a sigh before shaking his head and walking in the opposite direction of the med bay, leaving the two alone as they made their way to Angela’s office.

 

“I’m sorry for doubting you earlier.”

 

“Hmmmm?”

 

“About the mission. I’m sorry for doubting that you couldn’t be an asset to the team. I’d be dead right now if it wasn’t for you and Udon. I don’t know how I can make it up to you after being such a dick about it.”

 

“How about a coffee?”

 

“What?”

 

“A coffee. After we’ve taken you to see Angela of course. It’s only 4pm, the coffee shop in the village just down from the base will still be open, buy me a coffee.”

 

“Are you asking me to take you on a coffee date, Shimada?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

McCree let out a laugh at that, throwing his good arm around Genji’s shoulder and pulling him in close.

 

“You know, now that I think about it that lil fella isn’t the only cute one out of the pair of you. You want a coffee date, you’ve got it darlin’.”

 

It hadn’t taken long for the pet names to come, smooth words and sweet nicknames already winning Jesse a place in Genji’s heart.

 

“Good. Also as much as I appreciate the sweet talk, you’re still paying.”

 

A small curse made its way out of McCree, Genji laughing along as the cowboy began to crack up.

  
“Sure thing sugar, after all it’s a small price to pay in comparison to my life.”


End file.
